I Said Breath, Not Tease!
by stickynotelover
Summary: Mike blamed it on the facts he was a guy, he only teased her so often, and he loved to see how he was able to make her react to him. He also blamed it on lack of oxygen to the brain. But, no matter what the blame, he always told her it was worth the stuffing she pounded out of him every time he brought it up. JukeBox. Post series. Mike being kind of a jerk and Julie being Julie.


Her gasp rang loudly as she broke through the water's surface. Just as quickly, Julie was pulled back under by Mike's dead weight.

_No! No, not dead! Just unconscious! Bad choice of words._

Beside the obvious fact she was the more 'delicate' gender, Mike's foot of height and extra 50 or so pounds of weight on her made keeping both their heads above Lake Erie's surface difficult.

But she managed to slowly drift the two of them to shore. Numb to everything, but the need for air in her lungs and getting both of their bodies on dry land.

Julie's adrenaline rush was still buzzing from the events leading to their current predicament.

Being caught unprepared by Kane bots did that to a person.

* * *

Minus Chuck, the Burners were patrolling the different areas of Motorcity for any 'ne'er-do-wells', as Jacob put it, and had decided to split into two groups to cover more ground. Julie had automatically followed after Mike's Chopper.

The two had just hit an hour of patrolling when they were ambushed by a small group of Kane bots. She still doesn't understand how it happened, but one of the bots hit Mike, sending him flying from his bike into the waters of the Great Lake Erie.

_There's nothing to worry about. _She had thought. _This is Mike, he'll be fine. _

Even as Julie told herself he would be fine, she still sent the bots chasing after a holographic 9 Lives and drove down to the shore. She repeated to herself over and over that Mike would pop out of the water just fine and then they could head back to -

Seeing only his bike helmet emerge from the depths had her running to the highest ground she could get to before diving in.

* * *

As soon as she could breathe without gasping or choking, Julie tried to call Mike back to consciousness. When that didn't register a reaction, she placed her ear to his chest and -_pleasepleasepleasedon'tbedead! -_ listened.

Nothing.

The female Burner didn't let this deter her long and was extremely thankful that she had learned what to do in a situation like this. Detroit Deluxe may have been cleaner and safer than Motorcity, but that didn't mean need for medical assistance wasn't still required.

_Press on the chest. Tip back the head. Hold the nose shut. And breathe._

As she administered the steps of CPR, she thought of Claire and Chuck and anyone else who would probably be embarrassed or disgusted at the very thought of having to give mouth-to-mouth to someone. She thought of how, if she were more girly, she would probably be embarrassed too. She would have laughed at her thoughts, but they distracted her of the fact-_pushpushpush- _that - _blowblowblow -_ he wasn't breath-

Mike's body gave a sudden jerk as he coughed up a puddle of water and started to gasp violently. Julie forced him to lie on his side and rubbed his back slowly. She watched as the shock of not breathing waned down and he looked about him alertly.

Because of his moment of near death panic, Mike was able to spot the returning Kane bots and tried to lift himself to a sitting position. He made it to his elbows, but couldn't find the strength to get farther.

Julie wanted to tell him to lie back down, but he rasped out her name and tried to clumsily jester behind him. She was able to get the hint, saw the bots and then looked at their surroundings. Nine Lives was still in plain view, but with a flick of her fingers, the cloaking was activated. The Chopper was still up the rode and would most likely go unnoticed; that just left the two of them.

She realized immediately that lifting someone's weight under water and on the ground were completely different. Gravity played a mean game that was for sure.

And Mike was only able to help so much. She dragged him toward a large sheet of metal roofing sticking out of the ground, folded in a way that it could have passed for a crude tent. His arm slung limply across her shoulders, her arms around his torso, hands gripping his shirt tightly.

They made it without being spotted, but knew they weren't out of trouble yet. The Kane bots might not notice the odd groves in the ground, left by Mike and Julie's awkward trek, but the bots would be able to detect any noise they made louder than a whisper. Julie was able to help Mike crawl in between the folds before crawling in after him. It wasn't too snug, but if they tried to spread their arms out, they'd almost immediately elbow the sides.

Even with her blood pumping, muscles tensed, and breath held Julie could feel the water dripping down her shirt and the cold related shivers it created. It was something she couldn't prevent, being soaked through, but that didn't mean she couldn't try to ignore the chills and goose bumps running up and down her arms and legs. Mike and she would take turns peeking around their corners, seeing if the bots were coming closer or moving further away.

When the Kane bots seemed to finish sweeping the area and finally moved completely out of sight, Mike and Julie finally released any breath they were holding.

That then resulted in a coughing fit from the both of them.

"A-are you okay?" Julie asked, as she had managed to calm her fit first.

"Y-yeah..." Mike replied and then blinked in surprise at the raspy quality of his voice.

Julie smiled sheepishly. "It's probably from all the water you ingested and then puked back up."

He grimaced, in disgust at her blunt reasoning or at the reminder that he almost drowned, she didn't want to know.

But, she figured it was probably both.

Julie sighed and leaned her head back against the metal covering. The active energy was slowly wearing off and the cold from the water was starting to really get uncomfortable, but she wasn't ready to move just yet.

But she knew she couldn't just sit there, especially with Mike possibly having more than just a sore throat from his dunk in Lake Erie. Maybe she should call the others. To inform them of their bot encounter and see what's been happening on their ends.

"Julie?"

She turned to him and got a questioning 'yeah' out before Mike clasped her lightly by the back of her neck and pressed his lips roughly against hers.

Julie's mind only blanked out for a second before she started to notice everything at once. His lips firmly against hers, rough but moist from lake water. His one hand on her neck holding her in place pulling her upper body towards him; while his other hand cradled her cheek softly, fingers cool and calloused on her skin.

And then it was over. He was pulling away, slipping his hands slowly from her person, her still leaning forward, staring at him vacantly without really seeing him.

"Julie."

She jerked back against the metal roofing, blinking a few times to focus better. Looking at him, heating rushing to her face. Even more so when Mike started to grin smugly at her.

"What... What was that for?" She cursed the way her voice came out small and shaky.

Mike's grin never left his face as he leaned back, arms crossed behind his head.

He shrugged before saying; "I don't know." He smiles suddenly turned teasing. "Thought that since you gave me mouth-to-mouth it only seemed fair if I did the same for you."

Julie was certain that if he hadn't just about drowned she would have kicked him in the groin.

She settled for punching him in the right pectoral.

* * *

Since Mike wasn't up to par, Julie figured it was best to have him ride shotgun in 9 Lives and the Chopper be towed. Mike didn't argue with her plan, smug grin still on his face.

She shoved him toward the passenger side, trying to ignore the smile.

When the two of them arrived back at Jacob's, everyone was there and accounted for. The rest of the Burners looked on with wonder and astonishment as Julie and Mike walked in; both still soaked to the bone.

Julie walked off without a word, leaving to be Mike swarmed with questions on why they were in such a state.

Thankfully, Julie kept extra clothes around for moments like this. She stripped in a back room and changed into an oversized t-shirt and pajama pants before hanging her usual clothes above one of Jacob's many generators. It would take some time, but it would get the job done.

She sat at the counter trying to brush most of the water out of her hair, pausing every few seconds to get rid of a tangle. She was in the middle of tying her into a bun when the boys walked to the table behind her and sat down. Mike had changed as well, toweling his hair dry.

Julie listened as the guys talked. Watching them through the mirror she was using to fix her hair. Apparently, Mike hadn't really explained what happened. Just that they had gone for an accidental swim in Lake Erie.

"If it was Texas, then he could have just burned the water off with his sheer AWESOMENESS! HUYAAAAAA~" Texas stated proudly as his struck some karate poses.

Julie noticed a mass of hair falling out of her bun. Guess she had to start all over.

"Really Mikey! You and Julie are lucky you didn't get hurt!"

Ugh! That stupid hair didn't want to join its fellow comrades in the confines of her hair tie!

"Yeah, I guess so..." Mike said indifferently.

Hmm, maybe if she tied the bun in a different spot?

Dutch leaned forward. "Seriously though Mike. What happened?"

Julie hands paused just as she finished retying her hair. She watched as Mike made eye contact with her in the mirror. He grinned.

"SHUT UP, MIKE!" Julie demanded as she whipped around to face him. She could feel the back of her neck burning and knew he probably saw it.

He held his hands up defensively, still grinning in that irritating way at her. "Hey, I didn't say anything!"

"You didn't have to!"

The boys watched the exchange with unconcealed shock, before Dutch smirked.

"Okay, now you guys HAVE to tell us what happened!"

Julie just threw her hair brush at him.

* * *

**I wanted just mention that I had actually began this one, and assumed I would have it finished, before 'The Simple Truth'. So, hopefully they are all more or less in character. And yes, I made Mike slightly jerky, but it still seems kind of like something he might do. I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and feedback are welcome!**


End file.
